NIKE’s Latest Ad Campaign – Brilliance, Bust or Boo Boo?

If you think advertising doesn’t work, just look at the latest NIKE campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, the NFL Quarterback who knelt during the playing of the National Anthem.  Boy this campaign has lite a gas can on fire.

Let’s go back to another “controversial” NIKE campaign…the TV ad NIKE did with Charlies Barkley in 1993… the “I’m Not a Role Model” campaign.  It was a hot topic then, but that campaign had something going for it.

-        - The focus was on a topic that didn’t have a tremendous amount of controversy and passion around it and

-        - The ad had :30 seconds of airtime to explain why parents should be role models not athletes

I look at this latest campaign from NIKE in a couple of ways.

1.     Consumer.  Summing it up, I don’t care for it – but I’m not the target audience for NIKE.  Their target audience is clearly younger and the campaign probably resonates with them. 

2.     Marketing Professional.  There is a risk/reward with everything in marketing.  With that in mind, the short-term backlash over the Kaepernick ad might be enough to actually hurt NIKE with its intended target audience.  Let me explain.  If NIKE bends to the pressure and dumps the campaign ad featuring Kaepernick they look weak to their intended target audience as they’ve “caved in to pressure of society.”   In today’s society, empowerment has become a theme permeating our culture.   The message integrates society and sports together. 

“Hey you support Colin Kaepernick, but you don’t have the guts to stay with the campaign? “Whoops”… now who eats crow?

And although NIKE is clearly trying to resonate with younger audiences by using well known athletes, it seems to me they could have chosen a better individual to focus on. 

I trust they’ve thought through all the permeations this ad campaign might cause.

3.     Business Professional.  As you’ve heard me say before “there is no other reason to invest in marketing unless it drives sales.”   Whether or not this campaign drives sales via the brand is up in the air.  Look to NIKE’s next two quarterly earnings statement to see what success it’s had.

So where does all this lead us?  I don’t know, but I would hate to be in their PR department these days.

Scott

Marketers Are You Ready for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rolls out May 25th 2018.   You’re probably starting to hear rumblings about it. GDPR  will impact Marketers and the way we communicate. I won’t get into all of the details on GDPR. Topline it is new requirements for data privacy across the entire EU. It impacts how you market, process of the information and data you have, etc. And this doesn’t include just customers. It impacts your employees and user data as well. 

For Marketers concerned with the EU this is a critical change in the regulation. If you aren’t aware of it, get reading. IBM does a nice job summarizing it in this article.

So what’s a Marketer to do if you’re going to be highly constrained on email marketing and other forms of communication?  Well a few things you might consider include:

1.      Work with your legal, privacy and technology teams to ensure compliance with the new laws. The last thing you want is to get a letter from the government requesting a meeting to discuss some “issues” they’ve found.

2.      Organic Search – make damn sure your website is optimized to the nth degree on key search words, phrases, etc. 

3.      Paid Search – get a plan and start buying those must have terms. But make sure you’ve got a secondary list of terms which you’re willing to use in the event the cpm’s get above your comfort zone

4.      Retargeting – I’ve received different opinions on whether retargeting can be used with the new regulations but until clarity comes I’d get a plan in place

5.      Stronger messaging – in all of your advertising, on your website, social, etc.

6.      Website – maximize the appropriate level of onsite advertising, bumps, and onsite messaging

7.      Events – perhaps it’s time to focus some resources on events or tradeshows

8.      Advertising – look at both digital, print and broadcast. I’m amazed at how everyone’s abandoned the traditional channels. 

9.      Content – up the game. Get more aggressive but within limits. Remember that content has value. If someone wants it, ensure you get something in return

10.  Sales – as your lead volume at the top of the funnel will probably decrease, you should help bolster your sales teams assets so they can close more business at the bottom of the funnel

11.  Remnant inventory – take a serious look at buying up the cheap/off prime time inventory.  Remember, you’ll need to pound the market with your message using remnant, but if the costs are reasonable it could be an alternative

12.  External advocate programs – take those key brand advocates and empower them to spread the word about your brand, products and service

13.  Internal advocate programs – use your colleagues to be your brand ambassador – empower them to connect with others

14.  Run programs – expand beyond running ads – develop true programs which can create more engaging experiences and get customers to interact with your brand

15.  Social – use it, but don’t go crazy. You could see a backlash – remember more posts doesn’t mean more response.

16.  PR – increase it substantially – push hard for free coverage, getting your experts in front of the camera, etc.

17.  Partners – leverage partner events or connections to expand your reach

18.  Webinars – utilize these to get more connected with the customer and provide more detailed data and information

19.  Lock down the data – be sure to keep control of your data. You might want to consolidate list pulls, etc. to a small group of individuals.

Some things you should be prepared for….

1.      CPM increases – you’re not going to be the only guy or gal out there thinking about this… that will increase demand and that translates to higher prices

2.      Aggressive keyword search bidding

3.      Program ROI could take a nose dive. Be prepared to explain this when questioned. In fact, you might want to start that messaging ahead of the changes.

4.      Shock and Awe – marketers, agencies and suppliers are going to go nuts when they really understand what’s going on. And when that happens people do stupid things. Get legal advice! Don’t take the word of an agency or supplier. You don’t want to be on the cover of the Wall Street Journal as the poster child for this issue

5.      Communicate and train – across the entire organization

6.      Mistakes – someone will make a mistake and pull a list and email everyone.  Get your drawer statement and talking points ready in the event the press coming calling.

Let me leave you with this. The above items could possibly be impacted by GDPR. So check with your Legal Department before doing anything.  Overall, you must take off the blinders and look for alternative ways to reach customers.

Scott

TV Commercials - The Cost Keeps Getting Higher

First, if you haven’t gotten ahold of the “Marketing Fact Pack 2016” produced by Advertising Age, it’s worth your time and money to get one.  The piece is one of the better information resources to help make decisions and comparisons.

Second, in reviewing the information specific to the cost of a 30 second TV spot, I nearly feel out of my chair — wait, I actually did fall out of my chair.  The lowest cost of a :30 second weekly network spot was $14,309 for the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, running Friday at 9:00 p.m.  Now sit down because the high end weekly network spot was Sunday Night Football at $673,664.

And as usual football was priced at a high premium across the entire week:

NBC Sunday Night Football — $673,664

CBS Thursday Night Football — $522,910

NBC Thursday Night Football — $485,695

Running a single :30 second spot to reach the male demo in each of the above football programs would cost you a mere $1,682,269 per week.  Naturally, that cost is un-negotiated.  If you’re one of the big boys you could easily spend $2,500,000 a week on TV advertising.

Even bulking up a TV schedule with lower rated and lower cost TV while utilizing remnant TV with the goal to get the CPP down would be tough to do.  

Now taking into account all of the other media channels $3,300,000 a week for a medium GRP media schedule would not be out of the ballpark.

My preference is to run an 80/8 schedule (hit 80% of the target audience at least 8 times).  And while I’d love to see if that is still doable with the increased pricing I’m not even sure reaching 50% of the target 5 times is achievable.

How the times have changed.

Scott

Service Still Matters

In many cases companies advertise what they aren’t.  And when you must advertise your service level I usually find the service is terrible.  Service is best spread word-of-mouth.  It has authenticity when you hear it from another person, not an advertisement.

I was reminded today of the continuing importance of service — in fact EXCEPTIONAL service.  It was time for my 30,000 mile service on my car.  So I set my appointment through the handy technology imbedded in the in-car computer.

Arriving at Northside Lexus of Houston, I was greeted by a friendly Advisor who checked in my car and walked me to his office (yes an actual office).  He patiently explained to me what was involved in the service - explaining each item, made sure I didn’t a loaner car, etc.  At this point, he walked me to seating area’s…  Leather chairs, couches, multiple big screen TV’s, WiFi (and strong signal WiFi to boot) — it was a designer perfect family room.  The second area was a more general area with chairs and tables.  The third, was a business room with all the amenities — a fax machine, printer, etc. etc.  And fountain drinks, juices, coffee, cappuccino were all available.  

Then, Northside Lexus went for the “service kill”… freshly baked cookies…right out of the oven.  It is impossible for any man on the face of the earth to not fall under the “spell” of a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie — it’s like a love potion.  All along the way, my Advisor checked in with me to give me an update on the multitude of items they were checking, changing, tightening, washing and vacuuming, etc.  I received text messages with the estimated time my car would be ready. 

Check out was so fast and the Advisor walked me to my car.  The car was on, with the A/C lightly cooling the car.  And all along the walk the staff said thank you, enjoy the weekend, etc.  And this was like 3-4 people along the walk.  Oh, did I say they used my name.

If I didn’t have things to do I would have asked to stay a few more hours.  Northside Lexus of Houston doesn’t advertise its exception service, it doesn’t need too…I just did.

Scott

Estimated Media Spending Up? What’s Driving the Increase?

It seems all we hear about is how media budgets are being cut.  But some positive news came out of eMarketer which predicts media spend will increase  5.1% this year.  That number is slightly lower than had originally thought, but yes this is overall good news.  Let’s be wary of what is driving that increase. 

        

•       Politics -- political spend always tightens media inventory which naturally creates higher prices for media.  This supply/demand balance slow burns as caucuses occur state by state.  Then around June onward, inventory significantly constrains as we head into the Presidential election.
•           Olympics – the sporting events put a huge constraint on inventory during the summer months. Advertisers who normally don’t run consistent media schedules do burst media campaigns around the event.
•          Early Holiday Promotion – it seems Christmas shopping literally starts at Halloween.  Special “before” holiday shopping deals are becoming more prevalent.  Look at this new trend to constrain inventory as well.

So before we celebrate the “rise of media” let’s make sure we know the reasons for the increase and realize this might be an abnormal year of spend.

Scott  

These Are A Few of My Favorite Things

From time-to-time I’m asked what information I keep in touch with.  A few of my favorites include:

Web Sites

Advertising Age – http://adage.com/

AdWeek http://www.adweek.com/

Creative Magazine http://www.creativemag.com/

Marketing Week http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/ 

DMA Organization News http://www.the-dma.org/news/

B toB – The Magazine for Marketing Strategists http://www.btobonline.com/

Chief Marketer http://chiefmarketer.com

Direct Marketing News http://www.dmnews.com/

Ad News http://www.adnews.com/

Campaign Magazine http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/go/news/

PR Week http://www.prweek.com/

CNET  http://www.cnet.com

American Marketing Association  http://www.ama.org

WSJ CMO Today  http://www.wsj.com/news/cmo-today

CMO http://www.cmo.com

HubSpot  http://www.hubspot.com

Engadget    http://www.engadget.com

Tech Crunch   http://techcrunch.com

eConsultancy   https://econsultancy.com

Chief Marketer   http://www.chiefmarketer.com

Social Media Examiner    http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com

Talent Zoo   http://www.talentzoo.com

Twitter

@wsjcmo

@cmo_council

@britopian 

@pkfletcher

@TimHanlon 

@siriusdecisions

@rishad

@mmaglobal

@charlenli

@tedtalks

@timsuther

@sesamestreet

@bogusky 

@mckquarterly

LinkedIn Groups

Digital Marketing

Marketing Communications

eMarketing Association Network

Executive Suite

Marketing & Communications News

My Top Super Bowl Commercials...

It’s Super Bowl time again… when we all sit around the big screen TV and watch commercials, and a football game if actually relevant.  My top five Super Bowl Commercials of all time include:

Snickers - You’re Not You When You’re Hungry

Coke — Mean Joe Green

McDonalds - The Showdown

Volkswagon - The Force

Wendy’s — Where’s the Beef?

What’s your list?

Scott

International Advertising Festival Cannes Lions - Entry Tips

As we turn into Winter the CannesLions entries will be due shortly. Here’s a few tips from my judging experience.

1.  Read — yep it sounds simple, but read the entry rules and what is required in the entry form. If you don’t provide the information required, more than likely the judges will immediately discount the application.
2.  Language — when I judged about 50% of the judges spoke fluent English. The rest knew English but at varying levels. So keep the messages, short, simple and easy to understand. No fancy/dancy words.
3.  Culture — given the International makeup of Cannes, don’t do anything to offend another culture. Also, pay particular attention to whether any comedy is culture specific. If so, it might be hard for judges to understand the intent.
4.  Teachers Pet — the number of pounds you application has no relevance as to whether it wins. So don’t throw a ton of crap in your entry. If anything it will make it harder for the judges to sort the real entry from the hype.
5.  Numbers — INCLUDE numbers! Results matter… especially if you can attribute sales to the initiative.
6.  Goal — tell the judges what the goal(s) were with the initiative. Keep it short, don’t put the kitchen sink in on the goals. Don’t use the old SNL Shimmer Skit language “it’s a floor wax and a dessert topping.”
7.  Bullet Points — don’t write a lot of paragraphs…. make it quick to get through the application.
8.  Creative — use color versions not black and white reproductions. Yep, saw a few of these.
9.  Video — make sure you have it in the proper format as asked for in the application.
10.  International Campaigns — if you have a campaign which has run across multiple countries make sure to show it off. And if you’re a global company, dig deep across your regions to find the best and the smartest entries. Frankly, many of the best entries I saw were from Asia.
11.  Backups — send a backup electronic copy of the presentation in the event one gets damaged.
12.  Check Off — I can’t stress it enough. You must have all the information or questions answered. Don’t try and put in fluff material which doesn’t answer the question.

Good luck!

Scott

It’s Awards Time

The Golden Globes, Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild… you name it and it will be awarded in the coming months.  And Marketing is now different.

The one I like to key in on, is the Cannes Lions.  Held every summer its kind of the “Academy Awards” of Marketing.  It’s the big one.  If you’re lucky to win one, you’ve covet it forever.

So now is the time to start sifting through all of your marketing activities to find those gems in all the categories.  But remember folks, you’re competing against Marketers and Agencies from across the globe.  

Take a few moments to get educated on Cannes.  I’ll provide some tips on how to bolster your entry in the coming weeks.

Scott

Digital Disconnect

Over the Christmas holiday, my family and I traveled to Charleston, SC to have some low key quality time together.  I noticed something which  I found fascinating - three woman and one teenager were sitting in the airport coloring in a very meticulous coloring book.  

I asked a few of the ladies and the teen the reasons for taking up what I thought to be a child’s activity.  The answer I got was interesting… they said they were “burned out” on technology and this was a way to escape the digital world we live in, if just for a few hours.

This “escape” became clear, when I looked upon those in the airport and 90% of the travelers were staring into a small phone screen.  I use the words “into a small phone screen” on purpose.  They seemed to be so transfixed on the phone for hours, ignoring much of what was going on.  In fact, two individuals missed their flight because they were transfixed on the screen.   They didn’t hear the announcement of the flight, nor did they hear their names being called out for the “last call.”

As a Marketer I now question whether the mobile ads we run are being recognized or are lost in the blank stares of the consumer… I don’t have an answer, but the thought runs across my mind.

I’m now looking to find my “Big Chief” Tablet and that 64 Crayola set I had as a kid.

Scott

2016 Predictions -- the Swami Speaks

1. TV costs will increase 20-25%  As it’s a political year, inventory will start getting tighter during the year.  In addition, the Olympics hit in the summer and that always plays havoc with inventory.  HINT:  lock in your TV inventory now, to avoid the high prices political ads will cause once the candidate pool becomes clearer. 
2. Agency rates will increase. 4-6%  This isn’t really anything new.. they always increase.  But as agency holding company’s are having a difficult time getting toppling growth, they’ll need to pressure top line growth.  Digital ad cost will also increase during the year due to the before-mentioned.
3. Recruitment of solid employees will be challenging.  News this past week shows unemployment is at the lowest rate in years.  The market is still extremely tight and company’s will find it difficult to recruit.
4. Company’s will look to drive more products to lower cost channels… ecommerce, inside sales, etc.  Driving every dollar of revenue will continue to be a focus.
5. Metrics will be pushed even further… All of the investment in Marketing Automation needs to pay off.  This will be the year the investment really starts to pay off.  If it doesn’t drive revenue it’s going to be scrutinized big time.
6. Authenticity will be a key focus.  Politics always shows the worse in people, so customers will be looking for company’s that are truly authentic in the sea of negativity… don’t get caught on the bad side of this situation.
7. PR will suffer.  Politics will make it difficult to get mass messages out into the marketplace.
8. Customer Service will be a differentiator… now more than ever.  
9. Marketing Operations will become a more important function within Marketing.  Keeping control of the marketing train will make this function that much more critical.
10. Budgets for the year will increase, albeit moderately.  Consumer spending seems to be on solid footing and company’s will want to capitalize.  But be aware as we head into the second half of the year… a recession might be looming. And if businesses get even a whiff of this, budgets will tighten and tighten quick.

Of course 50% of these will be wrong, but what the hell.

Scott

Trump -- A Marketing Genius?

I don’t care for politics.  And with all of the incredible negativity during this political season I care for it even less.  But the marketing associated with this years candidates is fascinating  Specifically, Donald Trump.  Why is Trump so successful at not just getting support but increasing it even amongst increasing pressure from opponents, media, etc.?  He’s a masterful Marketer.  Yep I said it.  He might have insulted every religion, race, country, sex… ok everybody, but he keeps rolling.

It’s the basics of today’s marketing strategy.

1. Content — he’s provocative.  I’m not sure he knows what’s going to come out of his mouth next.  And honestly, I’m shocked at much of it, but it keeps me listening to him…even though I don’t care for him.  People are drawn to great, ongoing, new content and Trump has plenty of it. 
2. Authenticity — he is nothing but “authentic”… he connects with a certain segment of the population and you only do that if you are authentic.  He is raw in his comments and it seems their are many who connect to those comments.
3. Timing — have you noticed that Trump seems to come out with a new point of contention just when the previous one is starting to die off?  I say it’s not a coincidence.  He keeps his content coming in waves.  And that keeps him as the top news story on the networks and other media outlets.
4. Social — the guy is everywhere… the media is on Tweet alert and is always discussing his Twitter activity.  That free promotion must increase his followers allowing him to reach more folks with his targeted content.
5. And talk about free… I don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone get more free advertising.  Does the guy even run TV spots?  Hell, he doesn’t need too. 

Scott

TV Ratings -- Sometimes a Case of Shooting Yourself in the Foot

AdAge reported on a December 9th, 2015 article that TV ratings continued to fall… and this time 39 legacy shows are experiencing the issue.  Just 3 are feeling an uptick.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.  We know live sports events always do better as people would rather experience the action as it happens vs. rebooting TIVO to watch.  The Sunday Night Football ratings prove that as the ratings were up 8.2 in the 18-49 demo up from the last ratings period.

But I’m confounded by a move ABC is making.  Marvels Agents of Shield just ended it’s Fall shows on December 8th.  But the show doesn’t return until March… March, you’ve got to be kidding me.  It’s time slot is being filled by Agent Carter another Marvel property during the vacancy, but March?  It’s 2.5 months from now.   That’s an eternity to have the show off the air.  AND… Agent Carter really doesn’t have a solid track record as a ratings driver.  And hoping that the Shield crowd stays around for Carter is a risk.  Certainly, getting the audience to gravitate to a new show is great, if, they also stay around for the old show.  But that’s a damn big risk.

Now summer is different story, consumers expect the reruns or shows off the air.  But during the prime season to keep a show off for 2.5 months.  Good luck boys.  My gut, ratings will fall on Agents of Shield at least 15%.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so frustrated with the TV networks these days.  Shows are off the air for extended time periods, get switched between different TV properties, can be watched online etc.  It’s no wonder ratings continue to fall.  The disaggregation continues making it easier for consumers to get access to the show, but this continues to hurt aggregation of ratings.

I long for those days of less tech, and schedule simplicity.

Scott

Ad Placement - What To Do When The Public Complains

Our country provides everyone the right to express themselves via freedom of speech, etc.  You’re going to find, like minded groups who won’t be happy with your media placement.  These groups typically spam Executives or the Marketing Team, with canned emails expressing their displeasure with the advertising and asking (or demanding) that you change your media schedule based on this “controversial programming.”  Some might include:

• Sexual specific programming
• Gay or lesbian programming
• Questionable family values
• Actors/Actresses within a program which might have controversy surrounding them
• Politically based programming
• News programming — too liberal, too conservative
• Basically about anything someone will complain about
• Ethnic based programming

I used to get thousands of emails when these groups would target their displeasure.  I even had a media company threatened me if I didn’t run advertising with their publication.  So I was getting hammered by consumers and the advertising media at the same time.  

At first I was appalled… well pissed is probably the best word to describe someone telling me what and where I could advertise.  But after calming myself I came to accept that everyone has their opinion, they can express it and I needed to deal with it.  So I came up with some general rules of the road.

1. Respect the opinions of these groups/people.
2. Have a drawer statement ready and pre plan for these types of events.
3. Communicate your decision in a professional manner.  You don’t need to give your reason - if you do, you’ll get into a war of ideals, which you’ll never win.
4. Determine if your advertising actually ran on the wrong show… if you’re doing direct advertising, you might have been plugged into a show which might have been inappropriate.  Sometimes mistakes happen.
5. Does the show represent your brand values?  If so, no worries.
6. How many GRP’s is the program in question pulling?  Determine if it’s worth the stomach acid to run in the program.
7. If you have events, etc. which surround the program target audience this should be considered.  Sunk costs without any promotion aren’t going to generate revenue
8. Don’t fall on the sword for a show… if your management isn’t happy and wants you to move the media, do it… don’t argue…it will only create turmoil later.
9. But, don’t let any group tell you what to do.  Stick to your plan if it’s the right place to advertise, do it.  Don’t be swayed by detractors…this too shall pass.
10. Document, document, document… if it gets nasty you’ll need the facts.
11. Have your tech group stop the emails from reaching your email box and other executives email boxes.
12. Notify legal AND security of the situation in the case you start getting protestors out the front door, or the situation escalates further.  Keep your eyes open for any suspicious activities. 

Don’t be paranoid, but also stay vigilant.  

Scott

Celebrity Brand Spokespeople

Subway, Jell-O, Smithfield Brands, Nike, Hertz, Nike are just a few of the brands which have been burned in some form or fashion with Spokespeople.  Even when you get what seems to be the “All American Spokesperson” it seems the inconceivable becomes conceivable.  

Bill Cosby and Jell-O

Lance Armstrong/Oscar Pistorius and NIKE

Paula Dean and Smithfield Foods

The list goes on and on.  A brand ties itself to a celebrity aura and the brand takes a hit when that person falls from grace — scandal, legal, financial, moral issues all can take a toll. 

I’ve used spokespeople before and luckily never got burned.  But today

when everyone has a phone with a camera and video recorder the damage can be done within seconds when you can upload a video to YouTube or a photo to Twitter. 

So I’ve come up with a simple philosophy on the use of CELEBRITY spokespeople.

1. The brand must stand on it’s own — a celebrity shouldn’t be the brand.
2. Usage of celebrity will be minimal.
3. When using a celebrity it will be focused for a short time period.
4. The celebrity use will be focused on a particular campaign or initiative.
5. Vetting of the celebrity will go very very very deep… did I say it will go very deep?
6. Worst case scenario planning and disaster management will be thought out and ready to be executed at a moments notice.
7. Pre campaign testing on not just the target audience but also non target audiences, internationally, social channels, etc.… check to see if anyone finds some dirt.
8. Ensure contracts protect the brand, financial investments, etc.
9. Never get caught up in “celebrity” — this is a business.  
10. If sales don’t increase — dump the celebrity.
11. When you start hearing water-cooler talk by employees and management about “why are we spending money for a celebrity” or “marketing is pissing away money”… either start showing the increases in sales to support the use of a celebrity.
12. Use of non-celebrity spokesperson to carry the message on an ongoing basis (e.g. Flo for Progressive Insurance, the Duck for Aflac, etc.) is acceptable.  But, due diligence must be paid so a Jared Fogle and Subway doesn’t occur.  

What other criteria do you have?

Scott

YOWSER…. $5M for a 30 second Super Bowl Ad!

AdAge announced today CBS has nearly sold out all of the TV inventory for the upcoming Super Bowl airing February 7th.  Prices are at $5M for a 30 second spot or an 11.1% increase year over year.

I can remember buying a 30 second spot for a mere $1M around 12 years ago.  I can’t believe I just said “a mere $1M”….

I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Super Bowl advertising… the ratings are massive, people focus in on the spots and messages.  Digital integration is becoming stronger so the spots live on post airing.  And naturally, if the creative is killer, everyone is talking about it for weeks.  Then again, if the creative or message is poor… you die a quick death of ridicule by late night TV hosts and you’re forever known as the media guy who pissed away a ton of money.

Needless to say, I’ll be tuned in February 7th like most of America, looking at those spots like everyone else.

Scott

Marketing is Sales — Learn to Live With It

As Marketers we continually screw ourselves every time we open our mouths and spout out… the brand, advertising, radio, tv, print, events, digital, creative, marketing “expense”, media, etc.

All of those terms scream — Expense!  It reinforces the misconception that all marketing is expense… and people outside of Marketing (e.g. Finance/Sales, etc.) keep thinking “why do we spend so much money on this fluff.”    

Whether we like it or not, we Marketers have branded our work expense.  So every time the company needs to cut expenses… the Marketing budget is the first stop.  And the self fulfilling prophecy of cutting the budget which decreases the effectiveness/metrics gives critics more ammunition that Marketing just does “stuff”.

Learn to live with it folks… Marketing is Sales!  Yes, we are Sales People.  Damn it, we’re in Sales!  Why??  Every single dollar spend on Marketing should drive sales.  Think about it… why would Company Executive, Board of Directors and Shareholders support the expenses associated with Marketing.  Because they expect… no demand… that sales will be positively impacted by the expense.  

Marketing Research

Advertising

Creative

Media — TV, Digital, etc.

Direct Mail

Database Marketing

Marketing Operations

Technology

Web Sites

Headcount 

And the list goes on and on…

We must change the language first… we need to add the word “sales” into our vernacular.  

Sales drive by advertising

Sales Web Site

eCommerce

Web leads

Demand generation sales

Advertising sales / lead generation

Sales customer research

Events which drive sales leads

Sales metrics

The change in language starts to change the way our budgets are looked at.  Now we can start dialog around cutting budget cuts sales.  Finance and executives will now be forced to reconcile budget cuts on sales drivers vs. marketing expenses.  It’s a hell of lot easier talking about how those budget cuts will impact sales vs. how GRPs or brand awareness will be impacted.

Scott